Sacred Trash: The Treasure Trove of the Cairo Geniza

May 16, 2011

Hour 2

In the late 1800s, in a Cairo synagogue, a remarkable discovery was made – hundreds of thousands of Jewish manuscripts from the Middle Ages filled a small windowless room. Letters, poems, trousseau lists, prayers, marriage contracts, and money orders were piled high, almost touching the ceiling. Essayist ADINA HOFFMANand MacArthur-winning poetPETER COLE have written a new book about the find: Sacred Trash: The Lost and Found World of the Cairo Geniza. They tell Marty about the scholars who brought the long forgotten manuscripts to light and what the documents reveal about the people of the past.

Radio Times with Marty Moss-Coane can be heard over the airwaves from 10-11 a.m. Eastern time weekdays on 90.9 FM in the Delaware Valley, and rebroadcast from 10-11 p.m. as well. Radio Times is also heard live on the Sirius - XM channel NPR Now 122, weekdays from 9 p.m. to 10 p.m. Eastern.